Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the House's passage today of legislation designed to block citizen lawsuits against giant megaloads on Idaho roads. Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, said the state's current permit fees for giant megaloads don't cover all its costs to process the permits. "So each one of those loads that goes over Highway 12 is partially subsidized by the Idaho taxpayers," he said. "This legislation is very discriminatory against individuals and businesses along routes like this, as well as other citizens, who might have a legitimate gripe that they want to bring to the legal process."

Rep. Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, said, "You need to cut to the chase. If we're going to improve (and) retain what economy we have in this state, we need to get equipment from here to there, we need production. And in order to facilitate that, we need this lawsuit issue resolved. This bill does that. You may not like it, but it's necessary." A week and a half ago, Idaho Rivers United filed a federal lawsuit challenging the ExxonMobil megaload permits.